Why are there so few prominent female physicists? Traditionally women have faced barriers in higher education, denying them access to higher learning and scientific laboratories. Today many of these barriers have been breached, but the female pioneers who overcame discrimination and became major players in their fields remain largely in the shadows. Their names deserve to be known and the importance of their work, achievements and contributions to science warrant recognition. Originally published in 2006, Out of the Shadows provides an accurate and authoritative description of the women who made original and important contributions to physics in the twentieth century, documenting their major discoveries and putting their work into its historical context. Each chapter concentrates on a different woman, and is written by a physicist with considerable experience in their field. The book is an ideal reference for anyone with an interest in science and social history.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“As this inspiring gallery of heroines makes plain, there's no such thing as female science - just female scientists, including some very great ones. Their achievements span a vast range of mathematics, physics, and astronomy. In Out of the Shadows, experts lucidly explain what they did, and the lives they led. I was mesmerized, and edified.”
Frank Wilcze, Nobel Prize in Physics 2004, Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
“This book fills a vacuum in the history of physics. For the first time we have in one place clear accounts of careers and contributions to physics of 40 distinguished women from a variety of fields. In particular, the authors are informed insiders with intimate knowledge of their fields who often provide fresh information about their subjects. Let us hope that this book will inspire physicists to include these women in their lectures and textbooks so that no one will ever again badger women students with taunts like 'What's a nice girl like you doing in Physics 55?'”
Margaret W. Rossite, MacArthur Prize Fellow 1989-1994, Marie Underhill Knoll Professor of the History of Science, Cornell University
“Out of the Shadows gives us fascinating accounts of some of the ground-breaking achievements of women physicists and astronomers, many of whom have never received the recognition they truly deserve. It is a much-needed book. In it, a reader can learn, for example, about how Henrietta Swan Leavitt provided the first method of measuring inter-galactic distances, and how Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, in studies of spectra from stars, discovered that most of the luminous matter in the universe consists of hydrogen and helium. Both of these were advances crucial to the development of astrophysics and modern cosmology. This wonderful book beautifully illustrates that scientific talent has absolutely nothing to do with gender.
Jerome I. Friedma, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1990, Institute Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
"Out of the Shadows celebrates the achievements of 40 femmes d'esprit,women physicists who worked in the 20th century...The book is filled with unexpected gems."
Karen A. Frenkel, Scientific American
"...is an important contribution to the history of science...Cambridge University Press produced a beautiful 500-page volume...It cannot be read without a sense of regret at what the world lost by not having greater involvement of women in science."
Andrew Millis, Columbia University
"A valuable complement to recent work for students on women in the physical sciences."
Choice
"The book's essays, written by various academics from physics and chemistry, highlight the women's accomplishments, provide brief biographies, and suggest further readings."
ScienceNews
"...Out of the Shadows is a worthwhile contribution to the overall story of the rise of modern physics."
Adrea K. Dobson, Physics Today
"Women in...male-dominated fields often have made significant contributions. Out of the Shadows presents 40 women physicists who did just that between 1876 and 1976. The stories of these women's lives are fascinating."
Margaret Reilly, Association for Women in Science, Spring 2007
Frank Wilcze, Nobel Prize in Physics 2004, Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
“This book fills a vacuum in the history of physics. For the first time we have in one place clear accounts of careers and contributions to physics of 40 distinguished women from a variety of fields. In particular, the authors are informed insiders with intimate knowledge of their fields who often provide fresh information about their subjects. Let us hope that this book will inspire physicists to include these women in their lectures and textbooks so that no one will ever again badger women students with taunts like 'What's a nice girl like you doing in Physics 55?'”
Margaret W. Rossite, MacArthur Prize Fellow 1989-1994, Marie Underhill Knoll Professor of the History of Science, Cornell University
“Out of the Shadows gives us fascinating accounts of some of the ground-breaking achievements of women physicists and astronomers, many of whom have never received the recognition they truly deserve. It is a much-needed book. In it, a reader can learn, for example, about how Henrietta Swan Leavitt provided the first method of measuring inter-galactic distances, and how Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, in studies of spectra from stars, discovered that most of the luminous matter in the universe consists of hydrogen and helium. Both of these were advances crucial to the development of astrophysics and modern cosmology. This wonderful book beautifully illustrates that scientific talent has absolutely nothing to do with gender.
Jerome I. Friedma, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1990, Institute Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
"Out of the Shadows celebrates the achievements of 40 femmes d'esprit,women physicists who worked in the 20th century...The book is filled with unexpected gems."
Karen A. Frenkel, Scientific American
"...is an important contribution to the history of science...Cambridge University Press produced a beautiful 500-page volume...It cannot be read without a sense of regret at what the world lost by not having greater involvement of women in science."
Andrew Millis, Columbia University
"A valuable complement to recent work for students on women in the physical sciences."
Choice
"The book's essays, written by various academics from physics and chemistry, highlight the women's accomplishments, provide brief biographies, and suggest further readings."
ScienceNews
"...Out of the Shadows is a worthwhile contribution to the overall story of the rise of modern physics."
Adrea K. Dobson, Physics Today
"Women in...male-dominated fields often have made significant contributions. Out of the Shadows presents 40 women physicists who did just that between 1876 and 1976. The stories of these women's lives are fascinating."
Margaret Reilly, Association for Women in Science, Spring 2007
Book Description
An accurate and authoritative 2006 description of the women who made original and important contributions to physics, documenting their major discoveries and putting their work into its historical context. This book is an ideal reference for anyone with an interest in science and social history.
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4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
good book - good read for current and future physicts,
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This review is from: Out of the Shadows: Contributions of Twentieth-Century Women to Physics (Hardcover)
I am a female graduate student in physics. There are certain issues the field has not dealt with adequately. Learning the stories of our colleagues is essential to understanding the problems which exist still. I recommend this book to current and future physicists because it will help us understand what was wrong and what is wrong with the field.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Hertha Ayrton came to science through invention: her biographer Evelyn Sharp traced her mechanical ability to her father, a watchmaker. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Cambridge University Press, Marie Curie, Contributions of Twentieth-Century Women, Out of the Shadows, Royal Society, World War, Bell Burnell, Columbia University, Emmy Noether, University of California, American Physical Society, Main Ring, Helen Edwards, Chien-Shiung Wu, Lise Meitner, Barnard College, United States, Harriet Brooks, Maria Goeppert Mayer, Marietta Blau, Girton College, Margaret Burbidge, Small Magellanic Cloud, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
Hertha Ayrton came to science through invention: her biographer Evelyn Sharp traced her mechanical ability to her father, a watchmaker. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Cambridge University Press, Marie Curie, Contributions of Twentieth-Century Women, Out of the Shadows, Royal Society, World War, Bell Burnell, Columbia University, Emmy Noether, University of California, American Physical Society, Main Ring, Helen Edwards, Chien-Shiung Wu, Lise Meitner, Barnard College, United States, Harriet Brooks, Maria Goeppert Mayer, Marietta Blau, Girton College, Margaret Burbidge, Small Magellanic Cloud, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 82
books:
See all 82 books this book cites
- Nobel Prize Women in Science: Their Lives, Struggles, and Momentous Discoveries, Second Edition by Sharon Bertsch McGrayne on 5 pages
- Pierre Curie by Marie Curie on 4 pages
- Methods of Mathematical Physics (Cambridge Mathematical Library) by Harold Jeffreys on page 183, page 185, and page 190
- Stony Brook (NY) (Images of America) by Three Village Historical Society in Front Matter, and page 382
- Emmy Noether: 1882-1935 by Auguste Dick on page 94, and page 95
See all 82 books this book cites
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